


in this life or the next

by evilythedwarf



Category: The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns (2001), The Mummy Series
Genre: Alternate Ending, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:21:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21842053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilythedwarf/pseuds/evilythedwarf
Summary: Love was easy and life unkind.(Seven lives they could have lived.)
Relationships: Anck Su Namun/Imhotep
Comments: 6
Kudos: 72
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	in this life or the next

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Wiccy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wiccy/gifts).



> Let me preface this by saying that I know very little of Ancient Egyptian history, the Egyptian pantheon and archaeology, so I’m probably butchering this. Also, sais are traditionally Japanese, I think, but I figure if the movie could do it, so can I.   
> (Also, no mention is made of Evelyn and Rick’s fate because that would hurt my soul.)  
> (Also, I hope you enjoy this!)

I.

Her mother died bringing her into the world and her father is loathe to think of a day when she’ll leave him. A merchant, not rich but with enough property to indulge his youngest child, his only daughter, the light of his eyes.

She grows up beautiful and smart, and loved, so very loved. The finest girl in all of Egypt, or so her father says. His boasting gets her attention, and attention turns into inquiries, but he can’t let her go. He can’t part with the most precious jewel in his coffers.

She could have been Pharaoh’s mistress, the greatest honor and brightest future could have been hers. Instead, she’s just a girl. Smart, beautiful. Coddled by her father and brothers. Adored by her servants and her guards, hired specially to escort her into the streets, the markets, the temple.

She gets looks, and people comment on her beauty, her pose, her manners. Men notice her and she doesn’t notice them back, happy to live as a daughter for as long as she can before she has to be a wife.

Men notice, but she only ever notices one of them back. A priest of Osiris, handsome and quiet, and so very kind.

II.

He notices her, from the moment she steps into the palace. He tries not to, she is not for him, but he can’t help but be entranced by her beauty, by the way she carries herself, and the small smile she tries to hide when she walks by him.

She is lovely, but there are many lovely girls, and soon she is discarded, like she was never there at all.

He finds out her name, her father’s, he finds the manse where she lives and he finds excuses to walk by it. He lingers, looks at her, lets her see him.

She smiles at him, once.

She greets him, staring straight at him as if she knows what goes through his mind when he looks at her.

He loves her before he has even touched her, and when they eventually kiss, it’s as he knew it would be. Perfect.

III.

Nefertiti beats her, a sai to her neck and another to the stomach, puncturing the skin and drawing drops of red blood. Seti’s favour was as easily lost as it was won and she is free. She thinks she’s free.

But his touch lingers and his words, whispered on her skin, remain on her mind.

Mine, he said. Mine and mine and only mine. She was His, and sometimes she thinks she’ll never be her own again.

It takes time, it takes years, for her to forget His hands on her body, His lips against her own. It takes patience, hers and her beloved. Imhotep is as patient as he is kind.

When they are together, she is no longer Pharaoh’s. She’s not even Imhotep’s. She owns herself and it’s her life she gives him with every kiss and every caress. It’s her choice to receive his touch, to give all of herself to him, because he’s never asked more than she could give.

He kisses the small scars, often. On her throat, an open mouthed kiss, on her belly, the barest of whispers. The marks of her freedom bring her nothing but joy, and Imhotep’s love brings her nothing but peace.

IV.

They love, when they can. A secret, a shield against her darkest nights. They steal glances, and moments, and kisses when they dare. His touch is a healing balm on skin that has too long been submitted to Pharaoh’s whims.

Seti grows older, weaker. He stops desiring his mistress, then wine, then food. Imhotep tries but nothing he does can bring back Pharaoh’s health.

After Pharaoh’s death, Seti’s heir stops trusting him, and he is made to leave the marvelous city of Thebes. Pharaoh’s forgotten mistress is hardly missed when he takes her with him.

V.

She doesn’t fear death, for she trusts Imhotep will bring her back. She’s tired of hiding, tired of fearing, for her lilfe and his. If Imhotep fails, then she’ll at least be free.

When she comes back alive, she remembers the pain of the knife buried in her abdomen, and the satisfaction of knowing Seti’s hands would never roam her body again. She is tired and disoriented, and it is not until they are far from Egypt that she realizes he dared the wrath of the gods for her.

Leaving Egypt hurts them both. It is their home, and as much as it has taken from them it has also given them each other, but there will be no life for them there. They must start anew. Together they brave the world and weather all difficulties, strong in the knowledge that not even death could keep them apart.

VI.

Time has passed and at first he fears Anck Su Namun no longer loves him, that she regrets her sacrifice. but it is only the shock of new life, and the thrill of the fight.

His power is limitless and the world would be his if he desired, but it’s enough to have her in his arms. It’s enough to see her free like she was never allowed to be before.

Time has passed but men still crave power, still crave to dominate that which is not theirs. Imhotep keeps this new world at bay and delights in his love’s company. Anck Su Namun loves him just the same as she did millennia ago, and he can’t help but love her a little more every time he sets eyes on her.

VII.

He has tried, and tried again, and it is now her that needs to bring him back to life. She is not complete if she does not have him by her side, and she’s known it for longer than this body has been alive.

Imhotep risks his soul and his life for her, and if she will never be able to repay him, for he has not asked her to, and she only has her love to give him.

He is vengeful and mad, and he fears they’ll be separated again, but she is able to calm his wildest impulses and bring back the man she once fell in love with. Ahm Shere is their home now, deep in the heart of Egypt where no man dares to go and slowly, very slowly, he is once again the man who first saw her when she was nothing but an ornament.

She has brought him back to life, but he has saved her soul, and now their love is whole.


End file.
